DJ_Villain

He hasn't JUST spent 200m and that is all though, has he? That is half the story and the rest is a nightmare - caused by his own doing - not the fans who have suffered. The thing is that it's not about who your owner actually is, but how much money they're willing to throw at their team. If he chucked more money at the problem and we finished 10th rather than 16th in the last 4 seasons, people would be far more forgiving of Lerner - despite Aston Villa being in a far worse financial state. People are actually calling for an oil baron to be our next owner. It's a huge shame. I don't expect millions to be spent, but I also do not expect us to face such terrible cuts, a manager appointed who just relegated our neighbours and to then give a four year contract to a manager who has broken so many unwanted records. As for the cuts, we are told that it has to happen as we were living above our means (spending was 6th on wages, jeesh), so the chairman who came in without a plan, threw money at nothing and then got the chills. HE made the decisions, nobody else. He was to blame, he is to blame and he should absolutely get stick from the fans. It seems he agrees too - that he got a lot wrong. And fair play to him. We won't face terrible cuts again... unless the next owner comes in and overspends, of course. The rest of your first paragraph is narrative that doesn't mean anything. Managerial appointments not being correct? This happens all the time! I would assume the initial plan was to spend big and achieve CL football. We almost did this. Of course, almost isn't good enough so we were lumbered with huge costs and slid down the league, as per every single football club that has taken this approach before and failed (oil baron clubs aside). The difference being that we haven't been relegated and are now operating on steady footing. Lerner's fault? Absolutely. I blame him more than anyone for the state the club got into. However, I also believe he has the clubs' interests at heart and that the drastic cuts were necessary. As I put originally, if he continued to pump money into the club and we finished 10th rather than 16th for 4 seasons, people would be far more forgiving of Lerner - yet it would've been much worse for Aston Villa as a club. Whilst tough as a spectacle, I appreciate that. He just doesn't deserve dogs abuse for me. He messed up, corrected the situation and leaves (potentially) with the club in a decent state. He also gave us the best footballing years that I can remember (I'm relatively young ). Again, we could've had a much worse owner. He is/was a billionaire... He was never short of a few quid ever; he even sold an NFL franchise during the time he has been our clubs custodian... but when Man City came in and changed the playing field, instead of treating it as a new challenge and putting his money where his mouth was; he shat his pants, bottled it and closed his wallet... Therein came the inevitable tumble down the league table year upon year... It is most definitely his fault

Or Chelsea. I'd rather he went to United or Chelsea than Liverpool or Man City!

He might well feel like that... and it may well be true... But he is a shit manager!

I don't think any right-minded fan without the claret and blue tinted specs on could possibly have said it wasn't a good footballing move at the time The season before Barry left we finished quite a bit above City. I can understand why people called him greedy at the time due to City not being in the Champions League which is why he apparently wanted to leave us and City being below us. Obviously looking back he made the right decision but at the time I was angry Still angry, still dislike him and would still be happy for him never to win anything ever again...

Rather he: 1) Moved to a club abroad 2) Came a cropper in the summer and had to retire or 3) Decided to jack in football and took up Olympic curling than ever see him play against us...

I think Jake Livermore misunderstood when Steve Bruce said "clear the line".

Whooah...let's remember Gareth Barry gave us excellent service for 11 years, from making his debut in May 1998 to leaving in May 2009. I'd be pretty content with him giving us a decade's service and then leaving when he's 28 or something. Yeah... Excellent service for 11 years, no other teams were bothered with him for 10 of those; plays a blinder under O'Neill, gets into the England squad and suddenly the world and his brother wants to sign him... And what did good old Barry do? Yep, he jumped ship! The big chinned Judas c*** can swing for all I care... F*** Gareth Barry! He cost us **** all, gave us 10 years stellar service and made us £12m. Get over it, you small,small man. McGrath is a legend for a few seasons but Barry isn't for 11 seasons? Time isn't always what makes you a legend it can be quality of your service, if Jack is going to necome capable of the higher levels of European football if he gave us 3 years of that we would be seeing some thing we haven't seen for a while and therefore memorable! Milner, young, Benteke, Mellberg, Carew, Laursen have all shown us levels we havnt been used to, does it make them legends? Jack May become a legend because of being genuine quality at at time when we Havant produced much it dosnt mean that others before him wernt good players. Gareth Barry on the other hand left yo win a title and if Jack eventually does the same i will not begrudge him for it! McGrath played for us for 7 years, actually won silverware with us and didn't jump ship as soon as someone else was interested... Like I said previously... It wasn't until Barrys' performances got him into the England squad that anyone even gave a toss about him as a footballer... Suddenly, 'Mr Dependable' wants to leave when we were doing well, regularly qualifying for Europe and narrowly missing out on the Champions League. The reason Mellberg gets a pass is because he left for a team in a completely different country... A top team like Juventus... Purchased every fan a shirt for his final game... He didn't leave us for a direct rival competing in the same league as us...

James Milner is a tosser as well... Both of them left us for Man Shitty... Both of them can get f**ked...

Sorry, accidently posted twice and it wont let me delete the post!

Whooah...let's remember Gareth Barry gave us excellent service for 11 years, from making his debut in May 1998 to leaving in May 2009. I'd be pretty content with him giving us a decade's service and then leaving when he's 28 or something. Yeah... Excellent service for 11 years, no other teams were bothered with him for 10 of those; plays a blinder under O'Neill, gets into the England squad and suddenly the world and his brother wants to sign him... And what did good old Barry do? Yep, he jumped ship! The big chinned Judas c*** can swing for all I care... F*** Gareth Barry!

Again, since the Europa is our best chance at making the Champions League for the foreseeable future, it should absolutely be our strongest XI every single game of the competition This! Remember the stick MON got for fielding a B-team in Russia... Created a rod for his own back in that instance... Wouldn't be surprised if that was the occasion where a lot of fans lost faith with him Obviously not counting THAT Stoke game and signing Heskey....

Who do you guys think will be allowed to leave for free/on the cheap? Weidmans days are numbered I reckon

If the referee is Phil ***kin Dowd, we don't stand a chance... Fat c*** cost us the last final because he didn't have the bottle to send off Vidic for a red card offense... Hope he gets dengue fever...

I bloody love that stat. I know it's hard (as others have said quite correctly) to extrapolate Tim's part of this season over a whole season. But I'm very optimistic about next season, and for me, optimism and hope are key parts of being a supporter. You always need to feel that ''maybe we could" feeling, which was absent under Lambert, certainly towards the end of his tenure. This! I even lost that 'maybe we could stay up' feeling when Lambert left! Thank f*** for Timmy Tactics... Bloody love the bloke I do! What do you mean Timmy Tactics??? He ain't got none!! You ask Spuds fans!! Thats what he makes people believe... Leads them into a false sense of security... Then BLAM!!! Hits them like an angry wombat with a frying pan...

I bloody love that stat. I know it's hard (as others have said quite correctly) to extrapolate Tim's part of this season over a whole season. But I'm very optimistic about next season, and for me, optimism and hope are key parts of being a supporter. You always need to feel that ''maybe we could" feeling, which was absent under Lambert, certainly towards the end of his tenure. This! I even lost that 'maybe we could stay up' feeling when Lambert left! Thank f*** for Timmy Tactics... Bloody love the bloke I do!

Richard Walker Jefferson Farfan Sulley Muntari

Already wrote one a page or two back... A few people liked it... Edit: Top of page 288 to be exact

Since his 'Me, Me, Me' performance at Swansea that lost us the game; he has gone way off the boil and, personally, I am neither here-nor-there on him signing... That Swansea performance put me right off him...

Opposition players drive themselves nuts trying to tackle him... Who was that player yesterday that clobbered Jack to the floor then had the temerity to have a go at the lad about it?

You mean the very first opportunity to win the league and play in the Champions League? You begrudge him his medals? Or wanting to win them to begin with? of course not but this opinion that people have that Milner is some sort of diehard Villa fan or even a Villa legend is sad and pathetic. some Villa fans hold this guy in better regards than Barry In terms of what they've given the club there's no doubt barry is head and shoulders above Milner and don't think any Villa fan would dispute that. It's easy to see why some don't hold Barry in high regard, though - due to the way they left the club. Barry opened his gob, talked a lot of bull, went to the press, got suspended from training, was disruprive, etc. etc. Milner kept quiet, was thoroughly professional, played for Villa a couple of days before he left and gave his all, as always, not pulling a Dwight Yorke. So there's more context here than simply what Barry or Milner have given Villa throughout the years. Yeah, Milner kept quiet, let his transfer drag out until the season started, didn't hand in a transfer request when he obviously wanted to leave so he could get that fat pay off, left the transfer so late that our manager walked about a week before the first game because of it (supposedly), such a better way to leave, I mean he only screwed over the club and fans to get more money. I'd have loads more respect for the way Downing left if it wasn't for the fact he said he was staying no matter what about 2 weeks beforehand. As for the leaving for CL and title nonsense, yes he got it eventually, and in hindsight Man City would have obviously been a much better choice than us at the time, but people should remember that the season before Milner left, Man City were in the heady heights of 5th and finished 3 points ahead of us. We even took the lead at the Etihad with about 3 games to go that season, if we'd won that game I think we could've finished above them (not sure if it was just that result or not). It's not as if he was leaving to go directly to title challengers and immediately get CL football, a la Young or Yorke, he was going to what seemed a direct rival at the time, though it quickly became apparent that they weren't any more. Some act as if by leaving he instantly got all those things, well it took a while for it to happen (a short while granted). The only apparent thing at the time that Man City were in a better position for was money, everything else at the time was practically the same. I know this is massively OT for the Sherwood thread but the Milner stuff on this forum does my head in some times, yeah he was very good in that one season, but the way people talk about him is pathetic. Face it, he doesn't give a shit about the club or fans, and he's never coming back until we can afford to pay him silly money. This 10000%!!! However... I wouldn't say no to him signing for us again... but if he doesn't sign for us, I hope he never wins another thing in his life and ends up destitute and miserable... Same goes for Barry... The big chinned Judas prick... And yes, I do begrudge the medals they won... They didn't win them with us and I am a Villa fan, not a Man City fan... Why would I give a flying toss if players who jump off the Villa ship win stuff elsewhere?

You mean the very first opportunity to win the league and play in the Champions League? You begrudge him his medals? Or wanting to win them to begin with? of course not but this opinion that people have that Milner is some sort of diehard Villa fan or even a Villa legend is sad and pathetic. some Villa fans hold this guy in better regards than Barry In terms of what they've given the club there's no doubt barry is head and shoulders above Milner and don't think any Villa fan would dispute that. It's easy to see why some don't hold Barry in high regard, though - due to the way they left the club. Barry opened his gob, talked a lot of bull, went to the press, got suspended from training, was disruprive, etc. etc. Milner kept quiet, was thoroughly professional, played for Villa a couple of days before he left and gave his all, as always, not pulling a Dwight Yorke. So there's more context here than simply what Barry or Milner have given Villa throughout the years. Yeah, Milner kept quiet, let his transfer drag out until the season started, didn't hand in a transfer request when he obviously wanted to leave so he could get that fat pay off, left the transfer so late that our manager walked about a week before the first game because of it (supposedly), such a better way to leave, I mean he only screwed over the club and fans to get more money. I'd have loads more respect for the way Downing left if it wasn't for the fact he said he was staying no matter what about 2 weeks beforehand. As for the leaving for CL and title nonsense, yes he got it eventually, and in hindsight Man City would have obviously been a much better choice than us at the time, but people should remember that the season before Milner left, Man City were in the heady heights of 5th and finished 3 points ahead of us. We even took the lead at the Etihad with about 3 games to go that season, if we'd won that game I think we could've finished above them (not sure if it was just that result or not). It's not as if he was leaving to go directly to title challengers and immediately get CL football, a la Young or Yorke, he was going to what seemed a direct rival at the time, though it quickly became apparent that they weren't any more. Some act as if by leaving he instantly got all those things, well it took a while for it to happen (a short while granted). The only apparent thing at the time that Man City were in a better position for was money, everything else at the time was practically the same. I know this is massively OT for the Sherwood thread but the Milner stuff on this forum does my head in some times, yeah he was very good in that one season, but the way people talk about him is pathetic. Face it, he doesn't give a shit about the club or fans, and he's never coming back until we can afford to pay him silly money. This 10000%!!! However... I wouldn't say no to him signing for us again... but if he doesn't sign for us, I hope he never wins another thing in his life and ends up destitute and miserable...

You could replace the word 'backs' with 'ass'... But then I am British, so ass means donkey... not backside...

Marcelo Salas and??? Ooooh! I know, I know!!! Ivan Zamorano! sure between them they only played for Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan, Lazio and River Plate Well... He did ask for Chilean hotshots from the 90s

Posted this in the Jack Grealish thread. What do you guys think? To the tune of 'Hit the road Jack' Get the ball Jack, Put defenders on their backs, Then score, then score, then score, then score; Get the ball Jack, Put defenders on their backs, Then score'

Marcelo Salas and??? Ooooh! I know, I know!!! Ivan Zamorano!